How to sober up fast at home

If you wake up after yesterday and feel that alcohol is still in your blood, and in a couple of hours you have a meeting or a family event where you need to be in shape, this is a disaster. Need to sober up! But how?

The Internet gives a lot of advice. However, many of them are just myths. And some are even dangerous to health! Evidence-based psychotherapist narcologist Ilya Kisler told me how to get back to normal.

So the first 3 steps are:

• plentiful alkaline drink (mineral water) – this will accelerate the excretion of alcohol metabolites through the urine;
• potassium-sparing diuretics – they will also help to remove the breakdown products of alcohol and alcohol itself in the urine (but! It is important to consult your doctor before taking them);
• a contrast shower to end with cold water.

Are you happy? Early! Yes, these three steps will speed up the detox, but they won’t do it instantly. Do not flatter yourself, after a couple of hours, complete sobriety will not come.

A bit of science. Alcohol is excreted from the body at a rate of 0,15 ppm per hour. A half-liter can of beer will provide 0,3 ppm in your blood. That is, your liver will be able to process it completely in 2 hours. In the same 2 hours, she utilizes 60 g of vodka, that is, 30 ml per hour – almost a teaspoon. And no matter what you do, it will not work faster, you cannot force the liver to work at twice the speed.

Well, then consider. Have you drunk 250 ml of cognac? Full sobriety will come in 8 hours. Persuaded 0,5 liters of vodka? Finally sober up in almost 17 hours!

In this case, neither gender, nor height, nor weight of a person plays any role. They affect the speed of intoxication, but not the speed of sobering up.

But you can, even if you have alcohol in your blood, cheer up a little and put yourself in order. Let’s put it this way: you will be tipsy, but look more or less decent.

And here’s what to do.

Drink water

Alcohol greatly dehydrates the body. And to improve your health, you need to drink (put away the beer!) Water. The bigger, the better. Yes, it will not make you crystal sober, but it will help you get rid of a hangover faster. Some will say that the water makes you feel worse and gives you a headache. But a headache is a sign of severe dehydration of the brain, and water intake gradually normalizes its work.

Eat healthy foods

If everything is in order with your appetite in the morning, eat an egg, some fruit (bananas are especially useful for a hangover – they will make up for the lack of potassium in the body) or some oatmeal. It is important that the food is simple and nutritious to keep the stomach calm. No, Olivier and herring under a fur coat are not simple food, you don’t need to finish off your stomach with them.

If you feel sick and a piece does not fit in your throat, overpower yourself and start with just a piece – a slice of bread or toast will provide the body with carbohydrates and make the stomach work.

Do exercises

We understand that in this state it is even reluctant to get up, not to make unnecessary gestures. But we have to! Light training is guaranteed to benefit. Or take care of cleaning the house – there will be a double benefit. The main thing is not to overstrain and do not lift weights – you will be a hero later.

Breathe in fresh air

It does not affect the rate of alcohol breakdown in any way, but it helps to improve brain function. You will feel better much faster.

Myths about ways to sober up

Now for what not to do.

drink a lot of coffee

A cup of strong, freshly brewed bean coffee will certainly invigorate you – alcohol has been depressing your nervous system all evening, and coffee will stimulate it. But the second, third and all subsequent cups will return you to the starting point. Because coffee also removes fluid from the body. And you already lack it. In addition, large doses of coffee will speed up the work of the heart, and it is pounding like crazy with a hangover.

Eat something fatty

Generally, this is a good idea. Was. Yesterday. before you start drinking. Fatty foods inhibit the absorption of alcohol into the blood. That is, it will help you not to get drunk “in the trash” at an important party and not to disgrace, for example, in front of your superiors. But “in the trash” you will definitely overtake at home – the fat will be digested and alcohol will still enter the bloodstream.

But in the morning fatty food will not give anything. In addition to the extra load on the stomach, which has already suffered.

Wash the stomach

Again, great idea! But for last night. If you empty your stomach of alcohol before it gets all into the blood, you will sober up much faster. But since it flows through the veins, there is no point in causing a gag reflex – it will only get worse, because vomiting again dehydrates your body.

Pat yourself on the cheeks

If your goal is to inflict additional pain on yourself, go ahead! But to remove alcohol from the body by slapping will not work. Well, just cheer up for a couple of minutes.

Popular questions and answers

In general, medicine is categorical: getting drunk to death, and then quickly sobering up will not work. But we do not lose hope! Therefore, they asked to answer the most pressing questions of another psychotherapist, narcologist Timur Mammadov.